NOTE: Except for section headings, bold type indicates the unison response of everyone when praying in a group.
Quotes on Prayer:
"The power of the future lies not in the hands of those who believe in scarcity but of those who trust God's abundance."—Walter Brueggemann
“A concentrated mind and a sitting body make for better prayer than a kneeling body and a mind half asleep.”—C.S. Lewis
“Talk about it, says David—don’t try to hold it down or bottle it up, to block it out or keep it in! Talk about it to the one person with whom you really can say exactly what you feel. Throw it back on him.” –Michael Wilcock, The Message of Psalms, Vol. 1, pp. 201-202.
Adoration: Praise Sovereign God for His attributes, for who He is and what He is like in this passage:
Psalm 146: Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord! (ESV)
For ________________, Mighty God. We give you praise!
Confession: Psalm 55:1: 1Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
“I leave the vengeance to God and ask him to execute his righteousness to all his enemies, knowing that God has remained true to himself and has himself secured justice in his wrathful judgment on the cross, and that this wrath has become grace and joy for us. Jesus Christ himself requests the execution of the wrath of God on his body, and thus he leads me back daily to the gravity and the grace of his cross for me and all enemies of God.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible, p. 59
• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that is displeasing to Him and confess it to Him.
I confess ______________, forgiving God. Forgive us our sins. (If prayed aloud with others.)
Thanksgiving: In light of the following passage and anything else the Spirit reminds you of, let us thank God for what he’s done.
Psalm 44:8: In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah (ESV)
For _______________, loving God. We give you thanks.
Supplication (Humble Petitions) & Intercession:
Psalm 55:22: Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
• Pray to our merciful God about anything/anyone the Spirit puts on your heart to pray.
For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.
Psalm 55:2b-5: 2b I am restless in my complaint and I moan,… 4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me. (ESV)
For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.
Ephesians 4:26-27: 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.
Benediction: The Lord’s Model Prayer
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)